Snapshots of the Apocalyptic Multiverse
by Rago Dragovian
Summary: Oneshots of Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse. Featuring introspection on various characters or what-if scenarios of the alternate universes that were unseen. Major focus usually on Nanashi, Asahi, Toki, Flynn, and Nozomi. Please review and enjoy! :)
1. Nanashi wonders about Toki

A/N: Shin Megami Tensei isn't mine. :(

* * *

 _Death Lust_

Toki savagely drove her machetes into the cervix and then moved upward to the larynx of the demon Lilim. The sexy demon choked as it's cries were stifled and blood gushed from its privates and out of its open neck. Toki smiled as the demon's eyes bugged out before it fell over dead and vanished into the aether.

"Objective complete," intoned Toki in a neutral and professional tone. She grinned and turned to Nanashi. Her blood-red eyes alight. She frowned as she noticed him suppressing a scowl at her.

Her heart sank and she forced her visage to remain neutral so that she didn't frown. _Why doesn't he approve?! I bested an entire horde!_

Nanashi sighed. Asahi walked over him and took his wrist in one of her hands. His head shot up and Asahi smiled at him. "Let's go, Nanashi!"

Toki scowled at her and felt a sharp pain in her chest. Asahi glanced her way with a smirk before leading Nanashi back to their home station. _Why does he only stay by her side?! Why doesn't he pay more attention to me?! I provide more effort than that deadweight but he only focuses on the deadweight of the team! I'm stronger, I'm smarter, I saved his life many times, we work better together than that idiot sending off demons that don't do what she wants them to do! So what does she have that I do not?!_

She shadowed them. Keeping close to be at the ready and far enough to spot any enemy forces or demons out to attack them. _I'll just have to continue improving myself and try harder. Surely, he'll recognize me then._

* * *

Nanashi fiddled with his cellphone. He sighed as Toki had destroyed yet another group of demons that he had hoped to chat up so that he wouldn't have to take time collecting more relics and accumulate more macca to effectively fuse stronger demons.

 _Well, on the plus side, I have a larger and stronger skill variety to choose from,_ thought Nanashi frowning as he browsed through his phone, _but this is so unnecessary! Why does Toki hate those demons so much? If she's pissed off that I just talk to female demons, then I'm going to have to deal with those yandere tendencies of hers sooner than later. She always gives Asahi and I the creepiest stares when she thinks I'm not looking._


	2. Nanashi questions Lucifer's logic

A/N: Shin Megami Tensei isn't mine. :(

* * *

 _Camp Ichigaya_

 _Yamato Perpetual Reactor_

Nanashi raised his hand. "I have a question!"

The three factions ignored him and continued squabbling. Nanashi flushed and glared at all three groups. Gaston and Navarre failed to hide their smiles. It wasn't until Dagda appeared and stood next to him that the three factions paid any attention to him.

"I have a question!" said Nanashi, his voice loud and firm. He hoped that his tone hadn't sounded angry. He stared at the giant monstrosity clad in gold. "I have a question for you, Lucifer."

"Very well, Son of man, what is it that you wish to know?" replied Lucifer, his giant orbs gazing straight at Nanashi.

Nanashi suppressed a shiver and stared back. "Well . . . I've been doing some reading and . . . er."

Nanashi blushed as the three groups started to look annoyed. Even Flynn was glaring at him. Nanashi felt a pat on his shoulder and turned to see Nozomi smiling at him and giving him an encouraging nod. Nanashi relaxed and looked back at Lucifer.

"Why do you fight against God?" asked Nanashi, staring at the giant behemoth sitting on the throne. "It doesn't make any sense."

"What mockery is this?!" snarled Lucifer, he glared at Nanashi. "I have spoken of why an innumerable amount of times. I shall not rest until people are free from God's tyranny in a world where the strong can shape the world as they see fit!"

"But that's just it!" shouted back Nanashi, waving his hands. "That's what doesn't make sense to me!"

"I will no longer indulge in idle chatter with a witless fool who doesn't even understand the basics!" said Lucifer, glaring at Nanashi. The three factions prepared for battle.

Nanashi let out an aggravated sigh. "Look, you said that the strong can shape the world as they see fit, right?!"

All three groups ignored him. Nanashi scowled and then hollered out the next part.

"If the strong can shape the world as they see fit, and God is the strongest in the universe, then shouldn't you be following God's orders?!"

"Son of man, you . . . I . . . _what?!_ " Lucifer reclined in his chair as if struck. His large orbs bulged and his mouth hung agape. "That . . . God does not value anything but blind obedience to His will."

"And why should that matter to you?" questioned Nanashi, frowning. The other factions were either listening in rapt attention or staring at Nanashi and the other groups in confusion. "Your way is the strong shaping the world as they see fit. God is the strongest and demands blind obedience to His will. He shaped the world as He sees fit by being the strongest."

"I . . . that is to say . . . you see . . ." Lucifer spluttered. "He doesn't believe in power for power's sake or freedom to choose one's own path! Blind obedience to His Will is all that He decrees! Such a despicable notion is entirely antithetical to my philosophy of Chaos."

"How is it antithetical? God is the strongest, He shapes the world as He sees fit. Your philosophy lacks any strict set of codes, therefore even YHVH's structure could be considered part of that. Which brings me to another point . . ." said Nanashi, "How can you believe in both freedom and power? Power requires subjugation of others; freedom means lack of influence from others. One is just tyranny that destroys other people's freedom of choice and the other is completely impossible for any coexistent society. There are no set standards or precedence. It's just brutal oppression, mass violence, and horrific bloodshed. How is that freedom? It loses all sense of coherence for both of your ideals of power and freedom, it only leads to a bloodbath. What's the point?"

"Foolish boy! I shall heap Chaos upon Chaos as many times as necessary until a new order without God is established." said Lucifer, a confident smirk overtaking his features. "After all the bloodshed and death, a new order free from God shall finally come to fruition!"

Nearly everyone in the room paused upon hearing that pronouncement. The humans with Flynn and Merkabah stared at Lucifer aghast. Half the humans on Lucifer's side stared at him with dumbfounded expressions. Dagda burst into a fit of cold, mocking laughter. To Nanashi's surprise, Dagda's mother was laughing too. Danu tried, and failed, to hold her giggling along with Nozomi doubling over in laughter. Hallelujah, Navarre, Gaston, and Asahi stared at Lucifer in abject horror and fear. Nanashi smirked as he noticed that Toki had her brows furrowed and an eyebrow raised at Lucifer.

Nanashi couldn't help himself. He took a deep breath to settle his bubbling excitement, licked his lips, and opened his mouth. "So . . . why not establish a new order, without all the heaping Chaos upon Chaos? It would be faster . . . and more efficient . . . and, er . . . less psychotic."

Lucifer stared at Nanashi with his mouth hung open in an O shape. Nanashi blinked. "You . . . never considered establishing a world free from God . . . without massive violence?"

Suddenly, half the people on the Chaos side moved to walk towards Flynn. Flynn's people moved to ready themselves but the Chaos people that had broken off raised their hands in a gesture of peace and stood beside the Neutral faction. A quarter of Lucifer's forces moved to the Law side.

Lucifer looked at them all and growled. "Fools! To be deceived by the words of a mere child!"

Nanashi raised an eyebrow. "Why are you complaining? I thought you wanted to prove individual strength? Isn't organizing forces suppose to be against your very philosophy?"

Lucifer stared at Nanashi with his eyes bulged. Lucifer's jaw moved downward and looked as if it would hit the floor.

"I . . ." Lucifer paused and relaxed in his seat. Lucifer waved a hand in a gesture of dismissal. "Establishing a new order immediately could lead to God being worshipped again. To stop that from happening, an intense degree of Chaos is required."

"Stop . . . stop . . . !" said Dagda, his body shaking and his laughter waning. "Kid, I'm gonna die laughing should you keep talking to that lunatic."

Nanashi smiled back before turning to face Lucifer. "So, you have absolutely nothing to offer besides mindless violence in some vain hope that a new order is established? You couldn't just . . . y'know, skip all the violence and get straight to establishing a new order?"

"I never thought of the issues in that manner," replied Lucifer, "regardless, God's tyranny shall be destroyed and a new reign of Chaos shall come!"

"About that . . ." said Nanashi, Lucifer's giant orbs seemed to narrow and he seemed to gnash his pearly white teeth at Nanashi. "Isn't it true that so long as humans exist that God, you, and the will of humanity will always exist? Isn't it just as true that humans establish Law and Chaos over and over with neutrality only leading to a small reprieve?"

Lucifer, Merkabah, and Flynn nodded. The rest of their respective groups were gaping in horror or shooting confused looks all around.

"So basically . . . you're all going to be doing this forever and none of you will actually accomplish anything noteworthy or permanent for any grand scheme?" Nanashi said. He paused and regarded Lucifer. "In fact, your very philosophy is counterintuitive to any grand scheme of making the world better . . . so what are you even accomplishing beyond mindless violence?"

"I'll prove the truth of my convictions through my strength!" bellowed Lucifer, raising himself from the throne and running towards Nanashi.

"Um . . . so basically mindless violence _and_ you still don't get that such a belief validates your enemies since YHVH is stronger than you?" questioned Nanashi, leaping back as Lucifer aimed a giant fist and struck downward where Nanashi had just stood. A sonic boom erupted around the two of them. "Alright, have it your way."


	3. Nanashi fails at life

A/N: Shin Megami Tensei isn't mine. :(

* * *

 _Camp Ichigaya,_

 _Lucifer's Palance_

"Let's help the fallen soldiers to get outside of the area." said Nanashi solemnly.

"Nanashi!" said Asahi happily.

"I knew I was right to choose you as my master!" said Toki brightly.

"Tch, suit yourself, Kid." said Dagda, repressing a growl.

All his allies smiled. Nanashi felt his heart warm and he smiled back. They quickly began hefting the fallen Hunters onto their shoulders and marching out of Lucifer's Palance; once exiting the portal, they trudged their way back outside of Camp Ichigaya.

The group waited until all of the Hunters were enervated. The leader of the group profusely thanked Nanashi. Nanashi blushed and scratched the back of his head good naturedly as his fellow comrades got ready to go back in.

"H-hey . . .!" squeaked Navarre, looking over at Camp Ichigaya. He pointed at something in the distance. "W - what's that?!"

Nanashi felt his ears ring. He turned to scowl at Navarre and then gaped as he saw it too. Slowly, all his comrades turned and froze in various forms of shock, disbelief, horror, and disturbed comprehension.

A black void rapidly came straight at them and exterminated their very existence from the universe.

Merkabah had managed to grab the remote from Lucifer and had pressed the button before anyone could stop him. All of Tokyo was swallowed up by the Great Abaddon.

All because Nanashi chose to go along with his friends to save a bunch of Hunters who knew the risks of entering a war zone. Thus, all was doomed and God's Millenium Kingdom reigned eternal with no hope of freedom for humanity.


	4. Bonds Nanashi done fucked it up

_What if, Nanashi picked Bonds but Flynn didn't regain consciousness while fused with Krishna?_

"Brought down by my own Godslayer... You've become quite strong, kid. It's fine... Thought things might shake out this way, after all..." said the Old Dagda, his tone filled with bitterness. "Unlike humans, the path of gods is set in stone, start to finish... Those of us who represent human understanding cannot waver from the roles we're assigned. But that's not how I would choose to exist... So, you're not going to kill me... You've..."

He perished. Nanashi sighed. The new Dagda proceeded to close the Cosmic Egg and resurrect Asahi to the joy of the party. Nanashi smiled, his heart warmed, and he stepped forth with his friends to face Krishna and rescue Flynn.

* * *

 _Ensuing fight with Vishnu-Flynn_

"Ngh . . . stubborn man . . ." said Vishnu-Flynn.

"Flynn!" yelled Isabeau, she waited with bated breath. Vishnu-Flynn stilled. The friends in the back smiled at each other at possibly finishing the battle.

Vishnu-Flynn then let out a powerful magic attack. Nanashi and his friends were caught completely by surprise as a bright flash blinded his eyesight.

"Master!" shouted Toki, her tone fearful.

Nanashi saw the dark silhouette of Toki stand in front of him and vanish into the limelight. He was blasted off his feet and he fell backwards. He felt his sword grow lighter.

Nanashi grit his teeth and forced himself up. He frowned as he saw all of his allies except Toki knocked unconscious. He looked at his hand to see the blade edge of his sword had been disintegrated from the blast. Nanashi gazed in front of him and a lump caught to his throat as he noticed a blast mark with the image of Toki's body on the ground in front of him.

"Toki?" said Nanashi, his voice failing to mask the fear. He heard the new Dagda sigh next to him.

"I'm sorry, kid. But there's nothing left of her." said Dagda, he shook his head. "Eyes up, kid. We can fix that after the battle but you need to take out Vishnu-flynn before that can happen. It seems Krishna was able to subdue Flynn, after all. You . . . may have to-"

"Grrr!" snarled a high-pitched feminine voice. Nanashi glanced backwards. His heart fluttering at the prospect of Toki being there. He felt his heart burst open seeing it was Isabeau forcing herself to her feet. "Damn it . . . those bastards! We must act quickly! I'll support you as best as I can."

"I don't have a sword!" shouted back Nanashi, out of fear. Isabeau's eyes widened and she frowned.

"Use this!" said Isabeau, tossing Masakados katana. "Perhaps a blade with a sheath isn't perfect but . . . Oh! Oh my!"

Nanashi caught the blade and unsheathed it easily. He poised it at the God in front of him. Vishnu-Flynn looked ready for a lengthy battle. Nanashi glared.

"Hm, hm, hm . . . I've taken the time to heal the damage that Dagda has caused." said Vishnu-Flynn, "Such a task was easy for me, now that I've returned to my original power in this new form as the tenth avatar. Soon, the Cosmic Egg will reactivate and all of the souls in this universe shall be free to find salvation from YHVH's heartless meddling!"

"Wait, kid! If you use that sword with the Cosmic Egg like this then-!"

"Not now, Dagda," said Nanashi, readying his stance. His body was aching all over and he felt like he wanted to fall to the floor and take a nap. _I won't quit though. I'll never give up, no matter what thwarts me!_ "I have to do this . . . I have to focus and free Flynn."

The battle recommenced. Nanashi decided to take chances and grew bolder and bolder as the fight continued. The area around them shook as the creepy blood veins containing countless souls seemingly reactivated and the heart at the center of the room began beating once again. Nanashi paid no heed. _Just something to fix later, too._

Finally, after an arduous fight, he managed to submerge the blade straight into Vishnu-Flynn.

"Grh . . . Gaaah!" snarled Vishnu-Flynn.

The transcended form of Vishnu was finally vanquished. Flynn fell to the ground in a heap and Isabeau quickly rushed over. Nanashi glared at Krishna, who held his bleeding green abdomen. Nanashi launched himself at Krishna with the blade firmly in both hands.

"My Godslayer . . . Flynn is-" Krishna bled out of his mouth as Nanashi stabbed him straight through his chest. Krishna dissipated into nothingness.

"Flynn's dead!" cried Isabeau, her voice shrieking with disbelief and horror. Her tearful and angry visage turned to Dagda. "Dagda! Dagda, you can fix this, right?! You can bring him back and Toki as well, can't you?!"

Before either Dagda or Nanashi could respond, the beating heart of the Cosmic Egg exploded and revealed the throne for the New God of the universe.

The lost souls would never return to their human vessels and the universe now required a new God. The Old Dagda's wish had come to fruition.


	5. Bonds Nanashi done fucked it up END

Nanashi fell to his knees and stared agape at what his determination had wrought. Slowly, his friends regained consciousness and rose to see Isabeau weeping over the dead body of Flynn and the Cosmic Egg's throne having come to fruition.

"What happened here?!" snapped Gaston sharply, "This . . . no . . ."

"The Cosmic Egg hatched . . ." said Nozomi in a hollow voice. She stared at the open seat that use to be a beating heart; her eyes mystified. "Danu . . . what can we do? Can Dagda resurrect the dead souls maybe?"

"Unfortunately no," said Dagda, he sighed to himself as he gazed down at the shell shocked Nanashi. "Even with my power, it would be impossible. My resurrections are limited, I can maybe resurrect one or two people, but around the twenty to thirty mark would exhaust and deplete my magic. Also, it's limited to the affection the kid has for the person. Strangers would be impossible for me. That's all a moot point. I can't influence the souls within the Cosmic Egg at all because it's now beating like a heart and fully functional to ascend whomever takes the throne. To shorten the details, we're now technically inhabiting another space-time in a neophyte universe that's yet to take over. Our old universe is . . . cracked, for lack of a better term. If or when we defeat YHVH, then the change will be inevitable."

"Where's Toki?" questioned Hallelujah, he looked around the red throne room. "Wait . . . don't tell me . . ."

"Dead." muttered Nanashi, he glared at his fists. "Toki jumped in front of me and took the death blast meant to kill me. She sacrificed her life so we could win. Nothing's left of her but that black stain on the ground."

Asahi's eyes widened as she walked over to Nanashi and sat beside him on her knees. She began to rub his shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Nanashi. If only we'd been strong enough . . ." Asahi trailed off.

"If only we'd done a lot differently for the confrontation," muttered Nanashi, as jolt of pain felt lodged in his heart and his sense of helplessness overwhelmed him. He glared at Masakados sword. "Krishna's dead, or sealed away - whichever. He's not a threat anymore. But . . . Flynn died in the process and the throne erupted before I could do anything . . ."

"So . . . are we forced to have someone take the throne after all of our effort and sacrifices?" said Nozomi, her voice shaking. She scowled and glared at the floor. Tears streaming down her eyes. "After all we did?! After all the sacrifices we made?! _This_ is the end result?! Fuck the Divine Powers! And all these nefarious gods and demons that try to kill us all! Fuck them! I can't believe . . . what did all the faeries in the fairy forest die for when the bastards came to attack us?! What the hell was the point of it all?!"

"Nozomi, I'm sorry," said Danu, her voice holding a touch of pain. "But . . . we must act in accordance with what has been done. Someone must take the throne. If we abandon this place, any random god or demon could claim the universe by entering here and worsen the situation further."

"No way! We fought so hard . . . we sacrificed so much! Toki lost her life for our victory!" snapped Nozomi, rounding on Danu. "How can you be so callous?! What about everything we tried to protect?!"

"Mother's right . . ." said Dagda, his voice holding the same lament. "Regrettably, someone has to take the throne. The only way to ensure someone else doesn't take advantage of our efforts is if one of you who has a strong ideal that is manifested into a god or goddess takes the throne. Obviously, that leaves only Nozomi and the kid. But . . . the requirement for a stable, strong universe is to sacrifice what you hold closest in a sort of ceremonial sacrament to expunge the old universe. For the kid . . . that means sacrificing the souls of his closest friends after killing them."

"Never happening!" snapped Nanashi, his visage rounding on Dagda and glaring at him. "I will never sacrifice or hurt my friends!"

"There's no way I can do that either," snapped Nozomi, she sighed. "There has to be another way!"

"...There isn't." said Dagda, his voice holding a solemn tone. "We can't leave this room in a catatonic state. Anyone could fly in and take the throne."

"I am not killing my friends! There has to be another way like Nozomi said!" snapped Nanashi, rising to his feet. Asahi rose alongside him. "We can't just give up!"

"Oh dear, this is quite the conundrum that you have found yourselves in." said a smooth voice.

Nanashi turned to see Stephen having appeared at random. His shoulders slouched and the others smiled with relief upon noticing him. Nanashi felt his lips twitch upward too.

"Hello everyone," said Stephen, as he observed them with a critical eye underneath is bright glasses. "It would seem that all is not well, now that you've all passed a critical juncture. Ordinarily, I would praise your efforts, as they are of the spectacular merits, but the predicament we have now has given me some pause."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Nanashi, his voice laced with desperation. _Surely, Stephen will know. He's always around._

"Mmhm . . . first, let me ask you a question, then I'll know how to proceed." said Stephen, "Is it true that neither you nor Nozomi wish to take the throne?"

"That's absolutely correct," said Nanashi, he smiled at the nonplussed visage of Stephen. "I'd never dream of hurting my friends."

"The same goes for me." said Nozomi, nodding her head. "So, what can we do to fix all of this?"

"First, I'd like to share some information with you," said Stephen, addressing Nanashi and ignoring everyone else. Gaston scowled and Navarre appeared miffed. "You shouldn't have any more dreams about your past lives. How do I know? I told you before that I would help you, didn't I?" Nanashi raised an eyebrow and the rest of the group looked stunned. "The Dr. Matsuda disguise was part of that."

"What?!" bellowed Asahi. A sharp intake of breath erupted from Gaston. Navarre let out his patented "whhhaaaat?!" as he uttered his surprise.

"What, you didn't realize? " said Stephen, a thin smile on his visage. He moved a hand upward towards Isabeau and the carcass of Flynn. "The next piece of business I must bestow is some unfortunate news . . ."

A powerful, universe shattering lightning strike plunged upon the dead body of Flynn and Isabeau as the Singularity Lightning that Stephen summoned eradicated them at a molecular level before they had conscious awareness to feel the pain or gain knowledge that they were being slaughtered. The shockwave caused a massive tremor on the entire floor as their bodies were wiped from existence.

 _What?! What, what what what what wha- **WHAT THE FUCK?!**_

His friends fell helplessly to the floor, even Danu was forced to stay on knee as the shockwave of the attack continued long after the two had been evaporated, and Nanashi stared at Stephen with his mouth agape.

"W . . . what?" choked Nanashi in a quiet voice. "Wh . . . why?! HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?!"

Stephen chuckled as he fiddled with his glasses and relaxed in his chair. "Oh, you poor boy. It was unfortunate . . . but necessary. An explanation is in order. You see, a being such as myself - one who has attained and attuned oneself to enlightenment and gained the vast knowledge and power of the binding force of the universe thereof - can only act in subtle mannerisms to suggest certain . . . routes to be taken in a messiah's life. Fortunately, I know of what can and cannot be done under the Axiom's guidance so I . . . _cajole_ certain activities to occur by - ah - reframing the rules when I can. It is all for the purpose of a selfless resolve of mine, of course. It's all to benefit the messiahs and humanity, really. I merely wish to observe humanity's full potential, because human potential is infinite, so . . . I wish to see it go on forever."

The Bonds group stared stupefied as they tried to understand what Stephen was telling them. Nanashi felt a foreboding sense of horror at the pit of his stomach as the words began to make sense once he factored in the Matsuda disguise and his own life.

 _Wait a minute . . ._ thought Nanashi, _I began seeing visions of Akira's life before I ever met the Old Dagda . . . but that . . . No . . ._

"Still . . . I must always remind myself to be patient. You've no idea how many billions upon billions of alternate realities I've visited, much of them the exact same. For the most part, my guidance is sorely wasted as I take time to influence and cajole versions of yourselves, Flynn, and alternate realities with divergent backgrounds in which much of my help is simply a waste. The many versions of you and the other Messiahs mostly just die from situational struggles, get overcome by stronger challenges, or from the most laughable occurrences in life-death struggles due to arrogance on their part. It's effectively, and apologies for my crass wording, game over for the vast, vast majority of these billions of multiverses where these messiahs never reach the endgoal that I had wished to observe." said Stephen, he reclined in his chair. His visage held a faraway look as he seemed to be lost in thought. "Indeed, my selflessness perseveres to no end. After all, what else can you call such patience? My . . . generosity is arguably unparallel to all whom I assist. I give more than I ever ask for. All so that they may carry on with their infinite potential. But alas, such occurrences are so few and far between . . . for as many times as you take Dagda's hand upon death, there's just as many parallel versions who give up at those critical moments. For as many who defeat powerful opponents to reach the next phase in which I assist them, there's far more who perish in the wake of it all. For as many Flynns that choose a path, far more perish before making a choice. Still . . . I give, and I give, and I give . . . I yearned for the moment that the Hero would choose Neutral after I opened the gate to those demons to observe his potential. Eventually, after billions of tries, it finally occurred but it fell apart just the same, so I had hoped the next messiah would pick the path I had helped cajole him towards, and on and on it all goes. All throughout it, I patiently assist each universe with my benevolent guidance."

"What the hell are you even saying?!" snapped Nozomi, "What does this have to do with killing Isabeau and Flynn?!"

"Ah, I shall digress then," said Stephen, he chuckled. Nanashi felt a shiver as he'd never dreaded such a normal act than ever before in his short life. "I must remain patient and follow the Axiom's guiding principles in order to achieve the occurrences of witnessing the infinite potential of humanity. Humanity must choose a path under the guidance of a Messiah bestowed with irrevocably shifting the tide of the world around him or her. Nevertheless, by refusing to act based on your ethical codes, you have caused a critical problem. A choice must be made, if it doesn't then the universe will be in an unacceptable state of neophyte universe breaking the old universe without a new person representing new ethical norms to overtake it and eventually the universe will deteriorate and break apart into a void via damaging the Axiom. Such an occurrence must be avoided as you've failed to follow the Axiom's guiding principles of redefining the universe's norms. Therefore, the Axiom's regulatory effects that prevent me from using my powers are removed and I must now . . . well, ahem, clean the universe so that it isn't irrevocably damaged or possibly spread like a contagion to other universes as such an act would constitute worsening the crisis and potentially destroy the logic of the multiverse by harming the Akasha records and corridors of time. Thus, thousands of universes would no longer have any coherent logic to them. Therefore, your termination is . . . a mercy killing of sorts. You are no longer of any value to the Axiom or myself so I shall do you the kindness of making your deaths painless and quick because I am such a generous and humble person. You can give me your thanks before I help you in this endeavor, if you so wish."

Stephen waved his hand and Black Body Radiation attack knocked the waning ability to stand from the Bonds group. Nanashi gritted his teeth as he forced himself to stand. He noticed the others had been knocked flat onto the ground. Dagda and Danu flew at Stephen to stop him, but Stephen struck them both with Energy Compression attacks and destroyed them instantaneously.

 _No!_ thought Nanashi, as his legs barely kept him standing as they threatened to give out at a moment's notice. _NO NO NO NO NO! How could it end like this?! No . . .!_

"I'll stop you for the people, if it's the last thin -!" shouted Gaston, using Odin's spear to force himself on his feet. A Singularity Wave struck him from a wave of Stephen's hand and Gaston was phased out of existence from the powerful radiation strike.

"Gast -!" Stephen waved his hand and obliterated Navarre into complete non-existence.

"Please . . ." begged Nanashi, looking at Stephen with pleading eyes. "Please stop this! _Stop it_!"

Hallelujah flew at Stephen with full demon power in utter desperation. "Leader, I'll act as-!"

Singularity Hail froze Hallelujah in place, turning him into an ice sculpture in a matter of seconds. His icy remains evaporated before even touching the floor.

Stephen doused Nozomi in Singularity Flames as she tried to run toward the throne. She made no sound as the flames burned her body to ashes in seconds. Her consciousness had ended before she could register her own death.

Nanashi forced himself to look at Asahi, who was kneeling on the ground in resignation to what was to come. _I only just got her back, I can't . . . I can't let this . . .!_

Asahi wept as she saw her friends killed one after another. She quickly turned to gaze up at Nanashi. "Nanashi, I lo-"

Stephen snapped his fingers and a Singularity Wave eradicated Asahi into non-existence before she could finish her sentence.

Nanashi finally processed the fact his friends were dead and he was the only one left. He felt a surge of power as his hopelessness and impotence turned into a single-minded hate towards the man in front of him. Nanashi snapped his neck towards Stephen and flew at him with power anew. He was resolved to have vengeance upon Stephen for the murder of his friends.

Stephen flicked his finger at Nanashi's incoming punch and Nanashi's entire right arm ruptured and broke off from his body. It careened onto the far wall and slammed into the veins and walls of blood to be absorbed into the wall. Nanashi fell to his knees before Stephen and looked up aghast at what happened.

"Oh, you poor boy, you thought your boost of energy would matter. Hmhm, while human potential is indeed infinite, the mathematics of it are still relevant. From your current position, you'd barely pose a threat to the demons in the Diamond Realm. You would need hundreds of hours of intense training to even come near my level of battle prowess." said Stephen, he chuckled and shook his head. "I hate to part on such a negative note . . . so I shall entertain you a bit and answer any lingering questions you may have."

Nanashi clenched his teeth and tensed his muscles before relaxing his posture and exhaling. Nanashi buried his hatred and anger as he asked Stephen one simple question. He gazed at Stephen's smirking visage.

" . . . What were your intentions in trying to manipulate me?"

"Manipulate is such a harsh word . . . I'd prefer . . . _help_ as that is more apt. As for the purpose? I simply wanted to watch humanity grow it's infinite potential." said Stephen, his lips moving upward. The shine in his glasses practically sparkling from his half-truths. "Nothing else of consequence."

Nanashi gained a horrifying epiphany as he gaped at Stephen. A deep dread chilled him to his very core. "You're . . . just like YHVH; you may not admit it, but it's all fundamentally the same. So long as YHVH's humanity exists, the universe will remain his domain and he'll constantly create a flux of the most extreme variations of Order and Chaos and this is precisely what you want as well. You don't want us living in peace, you want a constant flux of Order and Chaos eternally harming humanity so that you can see its so-called infinite potential carry on forever. Forcing humanity into constant painful struggles like Nebiros is the only way you can observe the infinite potential at your leisure. You claim to be helping like Lucifer and the Archangels, but you're just as extreme and no different from them . . . you never were."

Stephen chuckled at Nanashi's words and didn't deny them. Nanashi shivered as he'd never felt such pain and fear in his life at the sound of the man's chuckling. "I chose wrong. I let the love of my friends and my desire for normalcy blind me to the truth . . . You must have been giving Flynn the same so-called help. You waited for the universes where he picked Neutral and assisted him while pounding my mind with memories of Akira so I'd feel like my decision was somehow a fated choice, when really you were just brainwashing me into thinking my choice was part of some grander destiny. The fact is, my destiny was to die with Nikkari and Manabu that horrible day. I bet . . . I bet there's worlds where I rejected Old Dagda's offer and died, you probably hated those worlds, because you wouldn't be able to conduct your infinite potential experiments without YHVH's interference causing another mass extinction to make a 6th humanity."

" Interesting . . ." said Stephen tapping his chin. "But of little consequence. It is your imminent death and the fear of it that is the source of such gains in knowledge now that I've eradicated all forms of Dagda. He only lives inside your head now and must be bestowing you with the knowledge in a last-ditch effort to assist you since he can do little else."

Nanashi's eyes widened. "Your whole plan was to get Flynn kidnapped so I'd choose the bonds of friendship, wasn't it?! If . . . if every time I witnessed Akira's memories was you forcing them into my mind to make me feel it was destiny, then . . . Asahi and I were so close to reaching Flynn before the Divine Powers did! The only reason we arrived a few seconds later than Krishna and his army was because a flash of memory of Flynn made me dizzy for a brief instance when I walked out of the subway station towards the rock of Masakados body! You . . . you were brainwashing Flynn to get him kidnapped and then brainwashing me for your own selfish goals! That's all we are to you, tools just like how YHVH sees humanity! You're no different from YHVH! You weren't helping me! You deliberately prevented me from getting to Flynn on time so he could get kidnapped, just so you could brainwash me into choosing the path of friendship for your own sick perversions!"

Stephen shook his head. "Oh, Nanashi, you are so incredibly naive."

Nanashi laughed at Stephen in mock satisfaction. "At least, in the end . . . I see you for what you are!"

"Do you? I find you still to be so incredibly malleable to my interests," said Stephen, chuckling at Nanashi. Nanashi glared at him with a look of utter loathing. Stephen smiled serenely. "After all . . . you're naive to think it was just that. My first bout of manipulation was bending the laws of the Axiom to repurpose Akira's soul to create you by the Mikado terminal in the first place. I didn't simply begin manipulating you in your dreams . . . I created you for the purpose of choosing Bonds so that I could put humanity in successive trials that I desired without YHVH's interference. The humanity here was the perfect combination I was looking for. Fortunately, in one occurrence, you did choose Bonds, it's a shame I had to accept seven failures in which you chose Dagda as collateral damage. Well, this chat was pleasant. Farewell, my child."

The Singularity Wave vaporized Nanashi before he could fully acknowledge and emotionally register what Stephen had told him.

Stephen went on to vaporize the fractured universe as per the Axiom's request as a dutiful Enlightened Being.


	6. Anarchy Nanashi meets Bonds Nanashi

Summary: What if Yahweh played a trick and connected the Bonds and Anarchy Universes to weaken his enemies to prevent them from reaching him?

* * *

"You who seek to bring new governance to this universe, you have my blessing." said Satan, "I shall guide you to YHVH's throne. Are yo - apologies, but it would seem that we have some company coming our way."

Nanashi scowled. _Most likely more Metatron Hordes. It's pitiful, how desperate Yahweh is._

"Kid . . . I'm detecting something unusual." said Dagda, Nanashi could hear the edge in his voice. "I'm . . . I'm detecting _you_ , Flynn, and . . . your friends."

Nanashi's eyes widened. "What?!"

Dagda pointed to his goddess. "I'm detecting her in human form too. It's . . . Hmph, I understand now. That must be it. YHVH's played quite the double-edged sword. He's connected alternate universes who passed through the Gate and is now trying to utilize the White - as mentioned, they're the aggregate sentience of human thoughts - to pile more alternate universes in an effort to expand his powers. If my calculations are correct, there'll be more to come should we not stop him soon. As of now, a version of you who made different decisions is walking up the staircase beneath us and making their way to the bottom dais. YHVH probably intends for us to confront and weaken ourselves through battle."

"Whatever the obstacles, we will see it through," said Flynn, his visage hardening as his eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. "I shall not allow anyone to hinder my Master. Let us kill them all and be on our way to depose the Arrogant God."

"We should probably face them head-on to have more control over the situation." said Nanashi's goddess, a sinister smile on her lips. "If you'd like, I'll deal with them. I doubt any of them have the capabilities, fortitude, or the patience to destroy all of the Fiends and En no Ozuno nine times. Our powers have gone far past the peak of human strength through our rigorous training and deliberate practice."

"Let's proceed with caution," said Nanashi, voicing his final decision. "While there is a thin probability that they can match our capabilities, we'll need to be on guard regardless. This seems more like an attempt like Mephisto to drain us emotionally. Flynn, they may appeal to you the most vigorously."

"Fear not, Master," said Flynn, drawing Masakado's katana. "I won't allow anyone to devalue my faith in you or hinder your goals."

Nanashi's lips twitched as they made their way down the steps.

"Hold." said Satan, causing the Anarchy group to pause. "As you have successfully completed my trials and received my blessing, I shall aid you as best I can until the coming battle against YHVH."

Nanashi smiled and nodded in response and the group continued their descent down the stairs to meet the newcomers.

* * *

The Bonds group rounded the flight of stairs to the uppermost corners.

"Nanashi, look!" shouted Asahi, pointing upward.

Nanashi gazed up and froze. His mouth hung agape in stupefied shock. Nozomi's eyes widened as she saw the newcomers. "What the!? What the heck is going on here?!"

"What trickery is this!" snapped Ghost Navarre, pointing rudely at the oncoming doppelgangers. "Is this another one of YHVH's physical mirages?!"

"No," said Toki, frowning as she looked up at the Nanashi, Dagda, Flynn, and some herculean demon descending down the steps. "I can't believe I'm saying this . . . but I'm not sensing that they're a deception."

"Hmph, then perhaps our senses are being more thoroughly deceived?" questioned Gaston, readying his spear. "Those are probably doppelganger demons meant to cause psychological warfare. We must harden ourselves."

"Wait a moment," said Flynn, frowning as the group above them stopped half-way down the steps. The other Nanashi seemed to fold his arms and survey them. "I don't entirely understand what's going on, this is definitely a trick of YHVH's meant to confuse us, but we need to keep it together. We shouldn't rush in headlong."

"Yes, I agree," said Isabeau, gazing at Flynn before turning to look at the other Nanashi, Flynn, and Dagda. "This is likely a trap. The demon behind them might be trying to induce us to attack and let our guard down."

"Oh come on, this is just creepy," said Hallelujah, brushing his hair with his free hand. "Maybe I outta shoot a spell at them from far away and see what they do?"

"I'll just attack," snapped Nanashi, scowling up at the clones that had stopped midway at the staircase. "We're just wasting time. YHVH might be plotting something."

"Don't!" snapped Flynn. Just as he spoke, Danu erupted from within Nozomi's consciousness and Dagda from within Nanashi's smartphone.

"That's no illusion." said Dagda, "Eyes up, kid. Be on your guard. We don't know what they're capable of."

"No illusion?" question Isabeau. "What's he mean, Danu?"

"It would seem that the Creator God has trapped us in a web of sorts," said Danu, she let out a sigh of exasperation. "That is a version of yourselves from a parallel world . . . or to be more precise, a version where Dagda's Godslayer made the other choice."

The Bonds group froze in horror as many had sharp intakes of breath, gasped, or did a double-take between Nanashi and the other Nanashi above them.

"Here they come!" said Nozomi, preparing her shotgun.

"Quite the greeting," deadpanned the Nanashi from above, he tilted his head at them. He froze once his eyes roved toward one particular person and uncoiled his arms. _What the hell?!_ He began to run toward them, but stopped. Nozomi had leveled her shotgun at him, but he had paid her no heed.

 _. . . Wait, I guess that it does make sense._ thought the Above Nanashi, he sighed and folded his arms again. Nozomi's lips twitched. _Allow them to think as they wish. It simply gives me the advantage._

"Well, I suppose to avoid confusion, we might be better off by referring to each other with different titles in front of our names." said the Nanashi above them, he gazed down at the Nanashi below him. "Since you chose to side with your friends over Dagda, I suppose that it would be best to refer to you as _Bonds_ Nanashi. And to avoid further conflict with the others, I'll identify your entire group as the Bonds group. As for myself . . . I'll name myself after my goal, I'll be Ascended Nanashi."

Bonds Nanashi snorted. "How about Asshole Nanashi, you dumb fuck?! Wait, nah, that sounds annoying . . . _Anarchy_ Nanashi. Since you don't give a fuck about your friends or human life, you piece of shit!"

Anarchy Nanashi scowled and then sighed. "How is it possible that I came to act this way in such a short time?" He turned to survey the rest of the group. "Well, I have to say, it's impressive that you all made it here, but what is your goal?"

"We believe in our bonds with people," said Bonds Flynn, entering into the conversation. He gave a critical eye toward his other self. His brow furrowed for a moment before he turned his gaze back to the opposing Nanashi. "We're here to defeat YHVH, and in doing so, we will change humanity's future to one where the weak do not lose their way."

"You believe that's worth putting your world in perpetual jeopardy?" questioned Anarchy Nanashi, raising an eyebrow. His shoulders slackened as he gazed at Bonds Flynn. "You do understand the implications of that, right? You'll constantly be dealing with the ceaseless return of Law and Chaos, even should you succeed in defeating Yahweh here - some people wishing for a foundation to make sense of the unending struggle will likely cause him to return in some form, and that's all ignoring the fact that you, your version of me, or Jonathan or Walter could reincarnate and join the White. Thereby, causing your universe to perish in the blink of an eye."

"Enough of this horseshit!" snapped Bonds Nanashi, glaring at Anarchy Nanashi. "Let's just kill this idiot and move on! We did the same to Dagda, we can do it to this idiot too!"

". . . Quaint." said Anarchy Nanashi, shaking his head. "Well, it seems we're at an impasse as our goals are fundamentally divergent. If you wish to resolve this with a battle, then I'll deal with you all at once."

"Keep it together, Nanashi." said Bonds Flynn, his eyes flicking to Bonds Nanashi for a brief moment before gazing back up at the cool-headed Anarchy Nanashi. "Observing them is best for now, especially if it leads to potentially avoiding a conflict. We don't know what this other version of you is capable of."

" . . . The fact that he's here alone doesn't bode well. To traverse through here without our entourage as back-up . . . he's definitely more powerful on an individual level," said Toki from behind Bonds Nanashi, she looked up at the quieter and more introverted Nanashi above them. "Judging from how he's acting, it seems like he's the type to keep his motives, intentions, and opinions to himself. Pressuring him into a fight may not go as we expect."

"I'm curious about something," snapped the voice of Anarchy Dagda as he observed them. Anarchy Dagda let out a barely concealed growl as he looked at his Bonds version. "How is it that myself and the kid are even here among you all? How did you manage to convince me to bring Flynn back from the dead and assist you all in keeping the universe intact?"

"Bring Flynn back?!" gasped Isabeau, staring at Anarchy Dagda in a mix of shock and confusion. "What are you talking about? Flynn never died. He managed to free himself from Krishna's control in the ensuing fight when we all called out to him."

Anarchy Nanashi blinked and his lips twitched. "I see . . . that does make a lot of sense. So, your group never actually defeated Vishnu-Flynn at the height of his power even with back-up. But, that still doesn't explain the Dagda in your group. There's no way that Dagda would give-up on his convictions so easily, considering what's at stake."

"He didn't," said Bonds Nanashi, with a feral grin. "We replaced him with a new Dagda that was more obedient thanks to Danu's new powers." The Anarchy group gaped at him in a gob smacked expression. Bonds Nanashi chuckled. "Your reaction is about the same as his was. I believe he cried _'That's my replacement?!_ ' before we killed him."

"What?!" snapped Anarchy Dagda glaring down at them all. "So . . . this is all I was to you, Mother? And to that version of the kid? Just some crazy person and obstacle to be destroyed while you blindly cling to a system that offers no true freedom from YHVH's control? I had more respect by collecting your souls than you did after defeating my version of your world."

"I never thought I would see you again, Dagda . . ." said Danu, her voice demurred as she stared at the original version of her son. "But to answer your question, yes, this is the path we chose. In our universe, I replaced you. There's no changing that. Here we are at an impasse. I will strike you down again, if necessary."

"Tch, I suppose it's fitting I get to see this for myself," said Anarchy Dagda, glaring at them all. He gazed down at his doppelganger. "I'm going to enjoy crushing you, if it comes down to it."

"You broke your agreement with him?" muttered Anarchy Nanashi, shaking his head as he narrowed his eyes at his counterpart. "Did you even think of the consequences or did you simply let emotional attachments decide for you?"

"I don't give a fuck about the universe shit or whatever," said Bonds Nanashi shrugging, "It's got nothing to do with me. I'm just a fifteen-year old kid. All I want is to keep my friends safe, to stay alive, and to have a great time with friends I love and care for. I don't give a fuck about gods and demons and I don't intend to involve myself in issues that have nothing to do with humanity. They're all crazy, except for a few nice ones like Nozomi's faeries."

"That . . . that's _pathetic_!" snapped Anarchy Nanashi, glaring at Bonds Nanashi, who grinned back at him. "That's absolutely disgusting! How can you not concern yourself with the eternal problems of what's been happening? How did you not see the clear problems of gods and demons vying for power and utilizing humans as puppets? How could you not see how easily Merkabah swayed a swathe of Tokyo's denizens with empty promises, when they were well aware the Archangels had nuked the world twenty-five years ago in Tokyo's time? How could you not see where Flynn's hard work and goodwill got him when Shesha used his name and face to deceive people?!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, who the fuck are you to tell me what right and wrong is?! You're just some genocidal maniac on an ego-trip or some shit! Don't act so calm, you pretentious asshole!" shouted Bonds Nanashi at Anarchy Nanashi, both Nanashi's glared at each other with livid expressions. "What, you want to tell me it was pleasurable to kill each of our friends? Did you laugh as you murdered them all? Did you find pleasure in proving how much of a murderous sociopath that you were?! You're just justifying violence for your own ego-trip. Your new world isn't going to last, you're just a fifteen year old kid like me. You'll probably become like YHVH and the insanity will start anew except you'll be in the Creator God mantle."

"You're casting wild aspersions when there's no reason to assume such," said Anarchy Nanashi in a clipped tone, "These issues aren't some idle fancy, they're serious and have wide repercussions for the stability and sustainability of the paths we choose. Neither Law nor Chaos were viable long-term options because they're exactly the insidious beliefs that Yahweh wants for blind obedience to his will. But Neutrality based on human bonds, placing all of it on blind hope, will only lead to self-sabotage. Look at what happened when Shesha assumed Flynn's role, or how Stephen brainwashed Fujiwara and Skins, or how each faction vied for power through intimidation and threats to curry favor. It's never going to work for the long-term."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" snapped Bonds Nanashi, snarling at Anarchy Nanashi, who scowled back at him. "You make no sense! The battles against Lucifer and Merkabah were over, we won by that time. We just had to go win some more and I got Asahi back so everything worked out! Everyone I love is safe, especially Asahi! Where's your world's Asahi?!"

"Nanashi . . ." said Asahi, blushing at the implications.

Anarchy Nanashi shook his head. "Repugnant. You used an elevated sense of victory as justification? The very fact that the entire city was easily deceived and the fact Shesha got away with his actions so thoroughly is direct, irrefutable proof that your bonds with each other won't last and that they can be utilized for both deceptive aims and thoroughly destroyed. Tell me, will your rebuilding efforts just skim over the fact that the Cult of Gaia forces children through rigorous forms of torture and violence that few survive in order to turn them into child soldiers? Will they just ignore the spreading of Yahweh's faith from those in Mikado who still cling to him? In fact, how're you going to deal with the spread of the demon gene once certain elevated forms of cultural progress make it into the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado and turn them all into demons since none of the Archangels exist anymore since Merkabah's death? Come to think of it, have you ever been to Twisted Tokyo?"

"What about that shithole Tokyo?" Several members of Bonds Nanashi's team grinned or stifled a laugh at his wry humor.

Anarchy Nanashi sighed and then continued after Bonds Nanashi's crass statement. "Did you not notice the White that teleported you there said that it exists because no Messiah came to save that world? So . . . how precisely can the Bonds of people work to keep your world stable when it's solely a Messiah like us, Flynn, Walter, and Jonathan who shape the world through our decisions? Even if you defeat Yahweh, and I'm sure you can, your world will fall apart and Yahweh will replace your current humanity with more people like that of Mikado who don't carry Akira's bloodline."

"Your world is doomed to fail," said Anarchy Flynn, he chuckled at the group beneath them. Bonds Flynn and Isabeau glared at him. "The White said it themselves, humanity only exists as a tool to be under YHVH's control and so long as your humanity exists, he will always come back because they're locked in cages of flesh that are of his making. My Master's goals are the only possibility of permanently killing him and eradicating him from our personal universe."

Bonds Flynn scowled and stepped forward, he put a hand up to gesture for those behind him to settle down. "Since we've answered your questions, I'd like you to answer ours, how did your version of me come under your service after my apparent death?"

Anarchy Nanashi's lips twitched and he gave Bonds Flynn a thin smile. "After I killed Vishnu-Flynn, Dagda decided to resurrect you as my godslayer to give us an extra advantage for the upcoming fight against Yahweh."

Bonds Flynn's expression remained cool as others gasped and let out utterances of anger.

"You disgusting wretch!" snapped Gaston.

"How could you?! You killed him and then used his carcass for your own nefarious purposes?!" snarled Nozomi, glaring at Anarchy Nanashi. "That's truly messed-up."

"He was useful for my goals," said Anarchy Nanashi, shrugging at them. "Besides, the goals and the enormity of what was at stake, more than justified it."

"Ends justify the means?" snapped Bonds Nanashi, "Spoken like a true fucking sociopath!"

"As opposed to letting one's feelings decide for them and destroy the only two opportunities to rid the universe of Yahweh?" said Anarchy Nanashi, shaking his head at his Bonds counterpart. "I can't believe I would ever be so blind. Despite the fact we carry the same genetic make-up and are physically the same person, it's become clear from speaking with you all that you and I are too different. Our beliefs, our biases, our predispositions, and our aims are like a vast chasm when we compare our worldviews and what's important to us."

Anarchy Nanashi sighed and then gave the Bonds group a measured look before continuing. "My love and friendship for my fallen friends or for humanity cannot justify a precarious system that constantly creates a flux of extremes which perpetuate the violence and genocide of humanity. To keep the universe intact is to keep Yahweh in power under the extremes of Law and Chaos that eventually lead back to his resurrection and the replacement of our Fifth Humanity with more obedient humans to his will. Your Bonds cannot last, our experiences with the impostor Flynn established they can easily be broken and rely solely on the power of Messiahs to give any weight to. That's why I chose to follow Dagda's plan. From a rational, empirical, and objective view of the cosmic crisis at stake and the imposed extremist dichotomy by Yahweh, the only viable path for a lasting peace is reforming the universe and giving the new humanity god-like powers to fight back and I will rule them."

"Oh, you arrogant piece of shit!" screamed Bonds Nanashi, "I'll fucking kill you!"

"Nanashi! Calm down! Please, stop being so hot-headed for once!" pleaded Asahi, she sighed and looked up at the other Nanashi. "Is there no way that we can settle this peaceably? Can't we work together?"

"He killed us in his world," said Hallelujah, shaking his head. "I don't think we can trust him. We'd be stupid to."

"I have one burning question, actually . . . for you, Asahi." said Anarchy Nanashi, he grimaced and maintained eye contact with her. "How did . . . I . . . what . . . I'm sorry, I don't know how to articulate this or ask properly but . . . what motivated you to give your life to save me and did you . . . did you blame me at all for what happened? Because . . . I haven't been able to forget the guilt I feel over your death and never had the opportunity to properly cope."

"What?! No! Don't feel guilty!" snapped Asahi, temporarily forgetting the Nanashi above her wasn't her Nanashi. "Giving my life for you . . . at the time, I felt satisfied and I had no regrets. Giving my life for you . . . felt like a weight had lifted from my shoulders and that I no longer had to worry or keep dragging you down. If I were to live my life eternally with the same events, I'd always choose to protect you. I'll always love you, Nanashi."

Toki scowled and bit her lower lip from behind Bonds Nanashi as she looked at her feet. Anarchy Nanashi sighed and smiled. "Although you're not my Asahi, I can say that I love you too, you were my only family after father passed away and the best sister anyone could ask for."

Asahi choked at Anarchy Nanashi's words. Bonds Nanashi gave him a horrified look. Hallelujah and Navarre began to laugh, and Toki gazed up in astonishment at Anarchy Nanashi's words with a wild look of hope in her eyes. The rest maintained their composure and remained vigilant of the possibility that Anarchy Nanashi could attack them at any moment.

"What?" questioned Anarchy Nanashi, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"What the fuck is this sister bullcrap?!" snapped Bonds Nanashi, glaring at his counterpart. Anarchy Nanashi stared stupefied by the indignant response. "I've always considered Asahi to be my woman, I'm not into this fucking incest fantasy that you have, you perverted psycho!"

"What? But . . . I never considered Asahi anything but a sister in my entire life. We grew-up together, I never viewed her in a romantic way." replied Anarchy Nanashi. The Bonds group gazed at each other in surprise at his words. "Honestly, the very idea is just strange to me."

"It seems there's more fundamental differences between the two than we realized," said Nozomi, gazing between the two. "This other Nanashi doesn't seem like the reckless, hot-headed type who needs us to bail him from time to time or whose recklessness sometimes works to our advantage to turn the tides of our group efforts. If anything, he's just quiet, composed, and he seems keen on observing us."

"He's more of a tactician, while our Nanashi is more of a soldier." said Gaston, nodding at Nozomi's assessment. "So then, does that mean how they personally viewed Asahi created divergent lifestyle choices despite living in the same circumstances?"

"It's most certainly a possibility," said Isabeau, "the life priorities would surely change."

Bonds Nanashi scowled at his counterpart. "Alright, if you don't love Asahi, then who the fuck . . . actually, don't bother answering. I already know. You only love yourself, you egomaniac. Bet you suck your own cock."

"You are . . . absolutely, the worst person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting," replied Anarchy Nanashi, his lips curling in disgust at Bonds Nanashi's words. "I doubt there's much value in prolonging what seems to be our inevitable conflict. It's unfortunate we couldn't move beyond Yahweh's machinations."

"Enough words." said Anarchy Dagda, "We already know from both versions of the kid that our choices cannot align and we want diametrically opposed outcomes. This is no different than the decision at the Cosmic Egg. Let's settle this."

Bonds Nanashi grinned as he took out his weapons. His allies all proceeded to take theirs out and readied themselves.

"My numbers are bigger than yours," said Bonds Nanashi as Anarchy Nanashi folded his arms and didn't move. "I'm going to enjoy smashing your face in and wiping that calm look off your face."

"Oh, your opponent isn't going to be me," said Anarchy Nanashi, smirking at down at the Bonds group. "Also, what matters is quality, not quantity."

A machete with pinpoint precision sliced Toki in half as if her physical body was paper thin. Her blood sprayed around everyone in a geyser-like fashion as Bonds Nanashi's eyes widened and the rest of the group screamed in terror and abject shock at the sudden death of one of their comrades. Blood spattered on Bonds Nanashi's back, on Gaston's lower stomach area and legs, and on Hallelujah's right torso.

The Bonds group gasped as another Toki, far more graceful in her dance of death, rose to full height and twirled her machetes with ease to hold them firmly. The new Toki had somehow appeared in the midst of their group by descending from the sky and cutting Bonds Toki in half in one smooth stroke before landing gracefully with one leg stretched to the side and the other bent low. As she rose up, the blood of the human Toki coated her sternum and could clearly be seen on one of her machetes.

Before the Bonds group could prepare a counterstrike, Goddess Toki deftly flung herself at Gaston. It seemed as if she flew through the air itself and moved at a pace of milliseconds. Her goddess-empowered machetes broke through Odin's spear before Gaston could hoist it upwards, Goddess Toki then sliced across the shoulder blade, through the sternum, and cut across to Gaston's lower hip that was opposite of his shoulder blade. Gaston died before his brain could fully process what happened. His body fell into two pieces as his carcass hit the ground with a soft thud. A pool of blood quickly growing in the wake of his bodily remains.

"GASTON!" cried Navarre, he glared at the new Toki with utter loathing. "I swear I will-!"

"Holy shi-!" cried Hallelujah as he began transforming into a half-demon form.

Goddess Toki ran head first and rose in a graceful arc, she beheaded Hallelujah with ease and then twirled her body in a ballet dance as she smashed her foot through Navarre and obliterated the ghost into non-existence. Goddess Toki continued to twirl and flew into the air, her body twisting until she twirled horizontally. She continued to fly-dance in the air as she flung one of her machetes at Nozomi. Nozomi attempted to position her gun at the airborne Goddess but the machete sliced into her face, made a clean cut across her brain, and blew out the backside of her skull as blood poured across her clean cut face. Nozomi's blood and brain matter blew onto the floor from the impact of the Dark Goddess's machete. Nozomi's body fell backwards and stilled. Danu was forcefully disconnected from her host and moved swiftly to Asahi's side to form a new binding in order to escape.

 _I cannot allow my emotions to overwhelm me now, we must protect our universe at all costs . . ._ thought Danu, as she hurriedly flew to Asahi. _This girl may not be much, but Isabeau is assuredly dead because of what she just did and I cannot let any of their deaths go in vain._

Isabeau and Bonds Flynn charged at Goddess Toki with all the power their legs could allow. Isabeau summoned all of her demons too. The machete lodged onto the skull and face of Nozomi broke through the skin and bones to fly up in a black glow. The machete spun by itself and flew at Isabeau's demons, the machete sliced across them all and killed them instantaneously.

Isabeau had a sharp intake of breath as she continued to charge. Goddess Toki landed gracefully on her feet with her knees bent in a sitting position as she calmly observed the two Samurai running towards her with their swords. The machete flew past her and Bonds Flynn as Goddess Toki plucked the deadly spinning weapon from the air without any effort or recoil. Flynn and Isabeau bellowed as they slammed their samurai swords upon Goddess Toki. Toki met each with her machetes and easily held back both attacks.

Bonds Flynn and Isabeau shuddered as they noticed Goddess Toki give them a calm, mirthful smile. She eased her legs up slightly and a small fraction of pressure onto Flynn and Isabeau's efforts to break her machetes to kill her. Isabeau and Bonds Flynn were caught unawares as Isabeau's sword forcibly flew off of her tightly gripped hands, breaking the very skin tissue of her hands through her gloves by sheer force, and careened all the way to the side of the non-Euclidean space to tumble off the area.

Isabeau cried in aggravated pain as her torn skin began to ooze blood, Goddess Toki took advantage and used the sharp edge of her left machete to cut from Isabeau's groin area, up across her stomach, cutting upwards between her breasts, tearing through her throat and up to her chin until finally the machete ran its course through her body. Isabeau cried out, but was muted from the damage done to her. Her blood poured uncontrollably from her viciously torn vagina, her stomach spewing blood and soon parts of her innards, and blood pouring from her chest and her throat. Isabeau woozily stood in defiance as her vision began to blur and the nausea overwhelmed her. She fell face first onto the floor and collapsed from her deep wounds. She forced her head up and cried as she looked up at Goddess Toki, whose eyes hadn't moved from Flynn as she had torn Isabeau's body to conduct irreparable damage that would soon result in dying from abrupt blood loss. Isabeau's blood poured like a stream onto the ground as she watched the ensuing events helplessly.

Flynn had been knocked back from the strike and attempted to use magic from his gauntlet to increase the distance. Goddess Toki briefly grinned at Isabeau, before she flew at Bonds Flynn with renewed tenacity. Toki slammed his laser sword, with no damage to her machetes, and cut across Flynn's gauntlet hand. Flynn dove back as Toki cut across with precise ease.

 _No! This . . . I can't believe this!_ thought Bonds Flynn as he stared in horror at the ruptured and torn bodily appendage as it fell to Toki's side. He shook himself from the shock and gritted his teeth as he felt the pain and held his sword firmly at Toki. He stifled the urge to look at his Anarchy counterpart or Anarchy Nanashi. _After everything I went through, from chasing Yuriko to fighting in those broken worlds, that I would meet an opponent who could so easily tear my body to pieces. The idea was unthinkable because I was able to defeat Sanat, Ancient of Days, and Shadow Masakados. But this . . . just how powerful are you, Other Nanashi? You're certainly above your alternate past selves. ...I can't give up though!_

Flynn timed Toki's tremendous speed and cut across the air just as she neared in the hopes of causing her to back away. Goddess Toki flipped her body upside down in a twirling ballet motion with her head just above Flynn's horizontal strike. Flynn's eyes widened and he gasped just before Toki's twirling body used one of her machetes to cut a clean strike through Flynn's left temple and cut apart the top half of his head in one smooth stroke. The other machete used the blunt side to slam on the top half of his head and hurl it towards Isabeau. The top half of Bonds Flynn's head landed in front of her.

 _Flynn . . . I'm so sorry . . . I never got to say-_

Isabeau continued to cry as she soon succumbed to her wounds and quietly died before she could finish her thoughts. Bonds Flynn's dead body fell over like a marionette. Goddess Toki landed on her feet and observed Bonds Nanashi and Asahi with a smirk. She stood in the middle of her bloody dance with her handiwork decorating the canvass of the floor with broken limps, sprayed brain matter, and lakes of blood throughout the area.

Bonds Nanashi and Asahi fell to their knees. Bonds Nanashi put an arm over her shoulders as Asahi embraced him and the held each other tightly. Asahi wept and Bonds Nanashi, after gazing at the dead bodies of his friends, wept too and glared at Anarchy Nanashi's impassive face and folded arms.

Anarchy Flynn ran at Danu and killed her in one blow. He proceeded to turn and blast at Bonds Dagda with a antichton spell and destroy Bonds Dagda's existence.

"No!" cried Asahi, as Bonds Nanashi suddenly felt the life draining from him just like when the original Dagda had ended the contract. Asahi began using healing spells in desperation to no avail.

Asahi wept as she tried to keep healing Bonds Nanashi, who stared up towards Anarchy Nanashi.

"Allow me to dispose of them, Master," said Goddess Toki with a serene smile as she looked up at her lover. "It would be a pleasure."

"Allow me, Master." said Anarchy Flynn, grinning at him. "It'll be of no trouble for me."

Anarchy Nanashi sighed. "I can't bring myself to attack or justify my servants, especially not the woman I love, into attacking someone who is another version of my sister. So . . . Satan, can you do me this one small favor?"

"It shall be done," said Satan, he charged his attack. "Megiddo Ark!"

Satan's Almighty magic blast shined like a flood of lightning as Bonds Nanashi and Asahi clung to one another as tightly as either could. The blast slammed into their bodies and gave them a painless and immediate death. The charred floor leaving no remains behind.

"Thank you," said Nanashi, struggling to muster his words. He wept as he saw his sister die again. _Only this time, I am directly responsible . . ._

Goddess Toki vanished her weapons and flew to her husband. She wrapped her arms around him and held him as Nanashi wept on her shoulder. Toki gently stroked his hair.

"Master, it'll be okay. We have to keep our focus on our goal. This was Yahweh's doing to deceive us and make us lose our resolve." spoke the Goddess, the content of her words and her soft whispers in Nanashi's ears causing him to relax. "Let's go, Master. Let's make him pay for further pointless bloodshed. No matter how powerful he is, our training will bear fruit. He wouldn't do this, if he wasn't absolutely fearful of us - of what we're capable of changing."

Nanashi straightened his posture and wiped the last of his tears away. He smiled at her and clasped her outstretched hand, interlacing their fingers together. "Thank you, Toki. I needed that."

"Anytime." said Goddess Toki, smiling back at him. Their lips embraced and their tongues briefly tangled against each other. Nanashi could taste the blood on her lips from what was sprayed upon her from the alternate people that she killed. They broke apart and smiled at each other. "I love you, Master."

"I love you too, Toki," said Nanashi, his heart easing slightly from the pain as their fingers clasped more firmly together. He looked over to his other companions. Toki stood by his side and looked ahead as well. "Let's finish this mess."

"Let us destroy this false God YHVH," said Anarchy Flynn, grinning maniacally, "It'll be a pleasure to finally have payback for all the torture and lives lost under his sadistic, Hobbesian torment."

"We'll free humanity of the stupidity of original sin," said Anarchy Dagda, nodding. "So that all may only be held responsible for what they have done, instead of such a veiled mockery of being sinful because one is simply born. His farce of a world will finally be overturned."

"Let us proceed," said Satan, "Close your eyes . . . meditate . . ."

The Anarchy group teleported to YHVH's throne room and left the non-Euclidean space to save the universe from utter ruin by defeating the arrogant, narcissistic God of the Abrahamic faiths.


	7. God Nanashi meets Dies Irae

_"Wallow in Filth. Purity is but an illusion - discard it, and all doors shalt be open to thee. No matter the era, a singular choice may shift the cosmos, shaking the world to its very foundations. You will learn and achieve nothing while bound by the chains of seclusion."_

* * *

God Nanashi chuckled as he and Goddess Toki finished creating the Sixth humanity, a Godly Humanity made by them together, and allowed her to sit atop his lap as she snuggled the back of her head onto the crook of his neck. Suddenly, both stiffened as they felt an oncoming presence traversing universes.

"What the fuck?" said Nanashi, out of surprise. Toki giggled at his choice of words because of how uncharacteristic they were from him. Nanashi blinked, then observed the bright skies for a moment. He chuckled under his breath. "So, our first challengers have come for my throne? Alright, then. Let's see how this goes."

"Would you like for me to take care of them, Master?" asked Flynn, gazing up at the sky. His eyes spotting the emerging dot of the oncoming arrival. "I believe my capabilities will be more than enough."

"No, at least not for this one," said Nanashi, Flynn looked at his Lord. "I want to try my hand at the first one. You can have whatever else comes by after . . . the three oncoming beings arrive. I'm now sensing two more coming our way after the first one. So, just this once, I'll fight them."

Flynn nodded in acceptance and Toki slouched on the throne as she prepped herself to watch her Master fight. Excitement bubbled within God Nanashi as he witnessed a streak of golden radiance descend and crash unto the ground before him. Nanashi snapped his fingers and the dust cleared away instantaneously.

The Harbinger of Beguiling Light, Reinhard Heydrich, stepped forward. His golden radiance, mighty spear, and decorative Victorian clothing broadcasting a decorum of nobility and masculine strength. He smiled at Nanashi.

"You there, boy," spoke Reinhard Heydrich, "Kill yourself with your own sword for my amusement and save me the trouble. You stand in the presence of true divinity, I am the Beast itself formed into a man. The embodiment of manly perfection!"

Nanashi raised an eyebrow. From the throne, Toki tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at Heydrich. Flynn blinked at the mannerisms of the man before them.

"Well, hello to you too," said Nanashi, his excitement waning at the man's grandiose and egoistic antics. "If you came here to challenge me, then you better give me your best. Or don't, it makes no difference against me. I'll slaughter you like I did everyone in the previous universe."

"Listen, boy!" snapped Reinhard, glaring at Nanashi. His eyes showing a hint of cold fury underneath the burning exterior. "I shall not waste my time on trivialities. Hurry up and slay yourself, two other beings like myself will be coming soon to take this universe. Your universe is but a newborn babe, and ripe for the pickings. Do not embarrass yourself further while in the presence of my radiance!"

"Oh, I am touched by your generosity." deadpanned Nanashi. Nanashi shook his head. _Well, there goes the last vestiges of my excitement over my first challenger. May as well wrap this up._ "I'm going to destroy you now and obliterate your existence from the multiverse. You really ruined whatever prospects of fun that I thought this would have."

Reinhard laughed. "I shall show you your arrogant ways and you shall become part of my harvest as I make your universe into part of my Valhalla!"

Reinhard summoned his three Valkyrie enforcers: Eleanore, Machina, and Schreiber. Reinhard smiled at Nanashi. "These three are my best enforcers, they have trained for decades within the halls of my Valhalla to create carnage and massacre so that all may become part of my Golden Glory! They shall be more than enough to wipe the floor with you!"

"Are . . . you capable of saying anything that isn't completely stupid?" questioned Nanashi, raising an eyebrow at the ensemble cast and their Golden leader. "It's as if you constantly parrot a bunch of fucking superlatives to make yourself sound amazing in some self-deluded echo chamber."

"Perish before our Lord!" cried Eleanore sending a fiery blaze at Nanashi. She summoned a massive battle tank and blasted Nanashi with a scorching fire.

Nanashi remained nonplussed as the fire swept over him. Reinhard laughed uproariously and turned to Toki. "You there, wench! Cast yourself into the fire with your man or become part of my Valhalla! And you there, young man, do the same!"

Eleanore's jet fire from the tank attack blasted onto the spot Nanashi had been. Nanashi walked out of the blazing fire unharmed and remained nonplussed. Reinhard rounded on the spot Nanashi had just emerged. His eyes wide and his mouth hung agape.

Eleanore glared at Nanashi as if insulted. "How dare you defy Lord Heydrich, you bastard!"

Nanashi cast Ice Age upon Eleanore; the air around Eleanore dropped in temperature rapidly, chilling the air around her, and then suddenly her entire body was submerged in a thick sheet of ice. The ice blew itself up, blowing Eleanore's body to millions of pieces along with it, and killed her instantly. Her spirit returned to Valhalla within Heydrich and Nanashi snorted at their astonished looks.

He cast a force blast of Deadly Wind at Machina before Machina could properly react. Machina's body was skewered into billions of tiny particles instantly and his remains dissipated. His spirit flew back to Heydrich too.

Schrieber unleashed his/her full power of insanity and hurled his/herself at Nanashi at a blinding speed. Or so Schrieber led himself to believe . . . Nanashi hurled a Trisagion as Schrieber moved at a snail's pace to Nanashi's trained eyes. Schrieber screamed at the top of his lungs as his body burned to a crisp and his spirit returned to the Valhalla within Reinhard.

"Most impressive . . . however, my abilities and craving are at a far steeper plane of power. My golden elegance and burning desire shall consume you before you fully grasp the pinnacle of my battle prowess!" bellowed Reinhard Heydrich, his golden hue brightening, glittering, and radiating around him like a golden rainbow. "For I shall love all and everything!"

"Holy shit, I thought Navarre was pompous and full of himself . . . you even give Maitreya and Abbot Hugo a run for their money on how much your head is stuck up your own ass." muttered Nanashi, under his breath. He pulled out his katana and ran toward Heydrich. "I'll end this farce in a heartbeat."

"You presume to be -!"

Nanashi's sword came toward Reinhard Heydrich before the Beast could finish his sentence. Nanashi slashed at Heydrich with one standard sword swipe in what was an altogether normal attack upon Reinhard's body. Heydrich moved to block with his golden spear, but Nanashi's slash easily cut the spear in two and destroyed it instantly. The sword moved past the broken spear and pierced through Heydrich's skin and clothes. A gaping gash cracked open Heydrich's body as if it were glass.

Heydrich gasped for breath as his body shook from nearly being killed in one blow. "Wh - what?! No, this cannot -! I . . . I AM LORD HEYDRI-!"

Nanashi scowled and punched Reinhard in the face in one methodical strike. The force of Nanashi's normal punch snapped Heydrich's spine in a sharp crack of his innards and bent his body back fully. Reinhard's body was sent flying like a pinwheel; Toki whistled in awe and Flynn laughed at seeing the body tilt in rapid succession as it whirled towards the skies. The body finally stopped twirling in the air and dove face first towards the new earth that Nanashi had formed. The gold dissipated from Reinhard's body before it crashed upon the ground head first and obliterated into a trillion pieces. The body dissipated into spirit form and Reinhard Heydrich's spirit was finally subsumed into non-existence within milliseconds.

Nanashi snorted. "That wasn't even a challenge . . ."

He sighed as yet another being crash landed and was followed by a nude golden-haired woman softly drifting onto the ground behind him. The man's bizarre tattoos, greyish-dark skin, and red hair seemed to exude extravagance to Nanashi. The man took out his two knives.

"I'm hear to fight for the takeover of this new universe, for my ephemeral moment!" boasted the newcomer, "I am Fuji Ren - no, wait, I must acknowledge my true name! I am . . . Lotus Reichhart! I, Mercurius, and the Beast shall do battle to decide the fate of this universe! I suggest you not interfere."

 _The idiot I just killed called himself the Beast,_ thought Nanashi, _I don't sense much from the golden-haired woman. Is she just here for moral support for the newcomer?_

"Tell me . . . what is your goal?" asked Nanashi, attempting to maintain politeness to the person in front of him. He prepared to do battle.

"I will give this universe to Marie behind me, so that she will love and embrace the entire cosmos!" cried Lotus, "That way, all will be loved with her purity and innocence! All will be embraced within it! Only someone pure and innocent deserves to rule the universe!"

Nanashi tilted his head. "Are you honestly that stupid? Purity and innocence? Seriously, what? Everything that is ruled requires hard work, sacrifice, and good judgment. To believe ignorance is what is needed is absolutely stupid and plunges people into danger. That woman's ignorance would cause her to be easily manipulated by forces she wouldn't be capable of making rational judgments against to assess pros and cons."

"Enough of your falsehoods, I'll show you my power!" cried Fuji Ren, as he lunged at Nanashi. "With my . . . DESIRE FOR MY EMPHERAL MOMENT! I'M THE MAIN CHARACTER RAWR!"

Nanashi's eyes twitched. He stabbed his sword to the ground and put his hands together in a meditative prayer while closing his eyes. Unseen by Fuji Ren and Marie, four ghostly hands appeared behind Nanashi in the colors of the elements.

 _Om Padme Hum_ thought Nanashi, _Akasha Arts!_

Nanashi's eyes snapped open as Fuji Ren neared him with his twin knives in the air. Nanashi pulled his right leg back along with pulling back an open palm as his golden eyes assessed the threat before him. Nanashi lurched forth in one swift motion just as Fuji Ren closed in. One of the ghostly hands translucently connected with Nanashi's physical arm, Nanashi slammed a frontal palm thrust upon Fuji Ren's sternum. The force of the blow caused a burst of deadly wind to push past the back of Fuji Ren as Nanashi's palm thrust smashed into his stomach and destroyed his innards. Fuji Ren's eyes bugged out and he gaped in muted pain as the pain of the blow finally registered into his consciousness.

A translucent arm connected with Nanashi's other arm, Nanashi bent his knees and pushed up a fist in the air to smash a painful corkscrew uppercut with the bottom of Fuji Ren's jaw. Fuji Ren's head snapped upward and his teeth were completely blown out of his mouth from the force of the blow. Toki, Flynn, and Marie stared in awe as Fuji Ren's teeth flew into the skies and dissipated into nothingness. Nanashi then bent his knees again and jumped backwards into the air. A translucent arm connected in a palm thrust like motion with his left leg, as he smashed his foot on Fuji Ren's bottom jaw. The kick hurled Fuji Ren into the air at meteoric speeds. Nanashi jumped high into the air and spun his body midair. As he spun his body, the last ghostly arm connected with his other leg in a straightened palm-like motion. Nanashi's body spun as he delivered a powerful drill kick onto Fuji Ren's chest and blew out his upper body to pieces as a result.

The carcass of Fuji Ren fell towards the earth and dissipated into non-existence before it reached the ground. Nanashi landed effortlessly by his sword and picked it up to point it at Marie.

"You're next." deadpanned Nanashi.

Marie gazed tearfully at Nanashi. "Ren . . . no . . . how could our journey end here?! How could it end like this?! We . . . we fought so hard together . . ."

"Lady, I'll be blunt," said Nanashi, shaking his head as he put his sword away. He snapped his fingers. "Even Maitreya in his base form could have easily killed that friend of yours and that golden man with the overinflated ego. You may seem like powerful behemoths, god-like in comparison to the mundane affairs of your own world, but in a universe that has dealt with gods and demons as a normal, everyday occurrence? None of you hold a candle to the mighty deities of this universe. I don't even need to fight, I could have had my Godslayer kill them both."

Before Marie could respond, strong bolts of electricity slammed into her and electrocuted her in growing volts of power every millisecond. Marie screamed at the top of her lungs to no avail as Nanashi's Thunder Gods irreparably seared the worthless goddess's body. Flynn ran forward and unsheathed his sword for one single strike that caused a massive gash across Marie's body. Marie died instantly and her goddess ideology was obliterated by Flynn's sword strike.

"How dare you . . .!" cried a voice from up above. Nanashi and Flynn looked up to see a man in a Nazi uniform, glittering blue eyes, and saw that his body was connected to a double-headed white snake god of some sort. Toki gave the newcomer a look of abject disgust. "The goddess . . . my goddess . . . no, no! I cannot bring her back! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER! I, THE TWIN-SNAKED GOD, MERCURIUS SHALL-!"

Nanashi took out his gun and fired randomly in the air. _Thankfully, fighting Shesha has given me ample time to consider what effective strategy to use against snake deities._

The snake and man blew up from contact from one of Nanashi's divine-death bullets. Mercurius was left in a state where only his ghostly, top-half remained in a nude form. He gasped for breath as he hurriedly tried to flee from the universe. Nanashi snorted.

"Flynn, take care of this," said Nanashi, he walked over to his throne and Toki moved off the throne to step aside. Once Nanashi sat upon his throne, Toki returned to sitting atop his lap and snuggled affectionately. Nanashi encircled her waist with a free arm and pulled her closer to him. "Honestly, those idiots were a total disappointment."

Flynn sent an Anticthon and obliterated Mercurius's dying remains in one blow. Toki kissed him on the cheek.

"Maybe there'll be better challenges next time?" suggested Toki.

Nanashi shrugged and then kissed her fully on the lips. Flynn walked back to them and sat next to the throne room. "Master, this is why you should just let me handle these affairs. You're the ruler, it's my job to enforce and make sure foreign agents don't interfere."

Nanashi nodded to Flynn and then resumed snogging with Toki. Once they broke apart, Toki gazed thoughtfully at Nanashi. Flynn dutifully kept guard as they did so.

"Well, Master, if nothing else," said Toki, smiling at him. "at least it serves as a useful reference of what our new humanity will be stronger than in order to resist domination by other foreign agents."

Nanashi smiled back and nodded to Goddess Toki.

 _Note to self,_ thought Nanashi, _Never make pathetic idiots like that. I'm definitely giving all of our humanity more god-like powers than anything those three were able to show off._


End file.
